Mother: AH (Book One)
by NewLeif
Summary: Times are rough and uneasiness is running rampant throughout the continent of the Nowhere Islands. The seven kingdoms are at each others' throats and at any moment it could break out into a full world war. Six of those unlike any other were chosen to carry a heavy burden: To someday leave isolation and make their decisions that could shape the fate of Pokémon as a species.
1. Foreword and Prologue

**Foreword**

 **First, allow me to say this, this service has been trolling me. Every time I reload the page even after I save it it randomly chooses to delete words and whole sentences. Posting later chapters might take a little longer than I thought. Either way, enjoy.**

Life gathered onto a single continent eons ago.

Various beings, (What we know today as Pokémon.) initially established themselves as clans of similar type at first. For decades, things ran smoothly as the only disputes were over sources of water and territory. Not too long did this last as later disputes drifted towards violence and frequency, infighting and near extinction of a particular type. A month after the spark of infighting a representative from each of the most populated types of Pokémon came together and attempted to create a solution. They could only agree on one that could possibly repair the damage, they were to take whichever beings capable and form a permanent settlement and restore the stability that was once there. A total of seven kingdoms were created.

Steel had taken up the remaining minerals, Poison, and whatever had been left of the Fairy type. (Fairy and Fighting appeared to have suffered the worst from infighting...)

Fire reached agreement and formed a kingdom with Dark, Psychic, and Fighting types.

Grass had managed to coexist with Bug, Normal, and Electric.

Only Ghost could survive in the bleak conditions in which Ice Pokémon live.

Water, Dragon, and Flying had all chosen to live on their own without any other type of Pokémon for varying reasons.

 **Prologue**

Hard drops of rain struck Mudd's face like tiny needles in the shadow of night. Tucked closely in the safety of his arms was a clear, silvery egg. It felt smooth and almost perfectly ovular, it's temperature was dropping rapidly, wasn't too far away now. The large Rhydon lurched to the left and ran along the precipice. His theft had been perfect, he swiped directly from the hatchery and not a single pursuer in to him, there were a sharp pair of eyes watching the Pokémon move. A cruel smile formed in her beak, the hidden figure took off and followed, trailed by two Pidgeot behind her.

Mudd felt stinging gusts of wind strike his back, even his hard armor didn't save him of the pain. It looks like his theft wasn't so perfect, the two Pidgeot slammed hard onto his back and Mudd scraped against the hard stones below him. The hidden figure descended gracefully next to the downed Pokémon, covered her beak with a wing and giggled. "Now what would a Rock Pokémon like you be doing here at this time?"She asked as Mudd kept silent, the combined weight of the two Pidgeot prevented him from getting up."…Oooh,where did you obtain this?" The figure swiped the egg from Mudd's hands and held it in her other wing. "My, my... looks like a Flying egg... so this certainly can't be yours... now why would a Rock steal a Flying egg?... Oh, this can't be for some sort of…legend or prophecy could it?"The figure asked, rolling the egg in between both of her wings. "Nobody would ever break Pokémon eggs."Mudd growled. "Oh? What if something were to happen to 'your' precious little child?" The figure held the clear egg up and let the drops of rain hit it, she pretended to let it slip and fall over the precipice with a casual "Oops...". "Noo!"Mudd threw off the Pidgeot and attempted to catch the egg but the figure slammed down even harder than the former. "Did you really think you would get away? I have eyes and ears all over my kingdom. "She told him as her wings glowed silvery white. She struck Mudd's head and the latter fell limp, then she slowly nudged his unconscious body off of the cliff. The only noises heard were the drops of rain as they struck the stone. "Let's go find something else to kill, but first we should dry off. I don't want this rain to weigh down my feathers." The figure said, her two lackeys nodded in agreement and followed her as she took off.

Further down below, a second figure emerged from the base of a mountain. He took one look at the broken egg, picked up a piece and scoffed at the body near it. He rolled a large boulder back into place and breathed out a plume of fire to light the passage. Not a minute after walking, he heard something land behind him. "Terra? What happened out there?" The first figure turned around. "Mudd is dead, and so are our hopes of a Flying child." Terra said, he tossed the piece of the eggshell at the ground, it skittered across the floor. Terra lit the room with one of the torches on the wall. Gerard fumbled with the eggshell. "B-But this can't be!" The Greninja became a pale shade of blue and he looked up to the shiny Tyranitar ahead of him. "This r-really can't be possible!" Gerard stuttered. "Just accept it, now _we_ have to be the ones watching these little brats..." Terra crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "There is one other way..." Gerard added after a pause. "I could simply take from Fire again, they don't even watch the-" "We already have two of them here, it's already imbalanced as is! How else do you want to disappoint the Veins?" Terra cut him off. "We need six! Do you want to throw away everything we worked for?! I'm going to find a sixth before the end of the day." Gerard shouted, he threw the eggshell and vanished from sight. 'The one time he chooses to act, it's now...'


	2. Chapter 1

**(Just a note I'd like to get out of the way. I had the _whole_ chapter written down and ready to be saved and put up. But my computer outright told me "NOPE!" and disconnected itself from my wifi. What makes all of this worse is that it rejected all wifi networks and kept telling me 'there is no problem'. After restarting and losing _5 hours worth of work_ it finally accepted my wifi again. So, while I rewrite this, this computer is making a troll face at me as I debate whether I should toss it into the fire or not. I'm going to have these issues often, so it may turn into a week for a chapter to turn up...)**

Chapter 1

Another day, another hour of training. Ruby wondered if he'd been living in more of an in-ground cave than a mountain. 'Did they have to pick such a gloomy place, couldn't there be a... less gray place to-'

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" rang over in his head like somebody smashed a metal pot over it. Ruby fell back into reality unhappily, he still had a few minutes to go against Terra, one of three "Guardians", those responsible for keeping Ruby and the others alive. Sharp claws raked across Ruby's cheek and sent him flying to a nearby wall. This was hopeless, why waste so much effort fighting somebody _much_ more powerful? Ruby didn't seem to have a choice anyway, it was required.

"Let's go over this again," Terra growled, furrowing his brow in anger. "Duck, roll to the left, and use your damned FIRE for once!" Ruby avoided the first swipe, but rolled the other way and Terra's foot slammed down onto Ruby's back. Ruby screamed in pain and struggled to move but was pinned to the ground and couldn't even move an inch. "WHICH LEFT WAS THAT?! DID YOUR BRAIN NOT GET OUT OF BED THIS MORNING!?" Terra shouted in Ruby's ears. The little Cyndaquil squirmed free and crawled into a small field of tall stalagmites. Almost immediately Ruby grabbed onto one and started to climb up it. Hiding wasn't a very wise thing to do…no matter how many times _Jade_ tried. Terra swung his tail around and destroyed the top of each stalagmite, just inches away from Ruby's head. He thought _"I'm seriously going to die here! If anything…I'd rather drown screaming than die because of this!"_ Just as he mentioned that, Terra grabbed Ruby by the chest out of the stalagmites and brought him up to eye level. Terra looked beyind enraged, but that was how he always looked. "...Yet another failure in your record _coward_. If you can't even defend yourself, I'd like to see you try to run in a _real_ conflict." He snarled and dropped Ruby on the ground, stomping out of the room. _"Coward"_. That word stung. Terra always was nasty; everything he said didn't seem to bother, Ruby much but _that_ word was painful to hear. Ruby didn't move, he just held the large wound on his cheek. He shut his eyes… sleeping didn't seem possible. Something poked him on the head and Ruby opened his eyes. Standing ahead of him was a male Squirtle with dark blue eyes. "Go away Lapis." Ruby mumbled, "So…how did that go? I think he deserved a spray of water." Lapis smiled almost wickedly. "You did that? Terra's going to be so mean to you tomorrow." Ruby mentioned, "Whaat? No way! I've never seen Terra be mean or nasty at all. That is _SO_ out of character!" Lapis said theatrically, "Oow, don't make me laugh please. My ribs might be broken a bit." Ruby said a little in an airy voice.

"Oh come on…don't exaggerate. We've got strong bones!" Lapis answered fiercely as he poked Ruby again. "You know…so why don't you-" "Swim in the river." Lapis started and Ruby finished, sounding unenthusiastic. _"Need a moment to relax and gather your thoughts? Take a dip in the river. Terra just burn you with a Flamethrower? Heal that burn in the river! Nothing else to do? Take a dip around in the river!"_ This was his answer for everything. "No, I just want to be left alone." Ruby mumbled again. ' _I mean…sure swimming is relaxing. IF YOU LIKE GETTING WET! THERE'S A REASON WHY WE'RE WEAK TO WATER!'_

"Too late!" Lapis said as he pulled Ruby by the arm. Being dragged across the stone floor was even more painful than walking on it. Lapis spun around and tossed Ruby into crystal clear water with the loudest **SPLASH!** that had ever occurred. Ruby screamed and paddled furiously in order to keep his head above the water; Lapis was leaped off of the ground and twisted elegantly before lading in the water without a sound. It had taken quite a while for Ruby to climb into the shallows of the flowing river. When he did, he was shivering violently. His fur stood up at impossible ends, making Ruby look more like a hedgehog. Lapis surfaced and immediately started laughing when he saw Ruby. The latter shook off some of the water but he felt like his whole body was freezing. "H-h-how do you swim around in there like it's nothing?" Ruby asked, trying to smooth up some of this fur. "Dunno, it's just not cold to me, Gerard says it feels fine to him too. Maybe it's just because you're weak to water." Lapis said kicking in circles as he stared at the ceiling. "T-then stop throwing m-me into it!" Ruby strained, hoping to ignore the flames on his back. But nothing happened, why did Ruby have to be stuck with having to be warm enough to breathe fire? It just didn't make sense to him, Ruby stood up, still shivering and went to a different chamber to warm up.


	3. Chapter 2

**(Apologies for the hiatus, lately I've been busy with a few things. JUST when I was about to save... my computer got rid of all my work again! Surprise surprise! So I just typed ALL of this over again.)**

 **Chapter 2**

Ruby stared wistfully at his reflection in the river and sighed. He figured that he wasn't the right one for the huge destiny he kept hearing of. He was weird looking, a Cyndaquil with black fur, weren't they normally a dark blue? Looks weren't even half of the things wrong with him. Ruby threw a pebble into the river and watched it be swept away by the current. It splashed a bit into his face as if the river laughed at him. Ruby thought he lacked the instinct to defend himself, let alone start a fight. Not that biting Terra's neck spikes would do anything. Maybe he was right, that Ruby was just a waste. He liked sleeping much more than studying and playing much more than actual fighting. A bat squeaked as it swooped down from the ceiling. Ruby shot an Ember and the bat fell to the ground. It shrieked loudly but cut off abruptly. Ruby's stomach grumbled and he debated over eating the charred bat or not. He ultimately decided not to as he was tapped on the shoulder again and somebody shouted "AHA!" Ruby screamed again and flames burst from his back. "AIE! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THAT! THE ONLY THING I DID WAS SHOOT AN EMBER AT IT! DRAKE SAID THAT I COULD EAT WHAT'S IN THE CAVES AS LONG AS IT'S SOMETHING SMALL! I COULD MISS DINNER, JUST PLEASE DON'T YELL AT ME!" He yelled out.

"Huh? I was just 'AHA'-ing, it's my war cry… What do you think?" Ruby recognized that voice. It was Opal, she prodded him a bit and he turned around. Opal was the youngest out of all of them. A light colored Axew with a pattern around her neck consisted of a small rainbow. Opal's eyes always shifted color, without them, Ruby figured that he'd never know about all of the colors in the world. "Lapis and Topaz want everyone into the study room." She said, "Oh, what is it about this time?" Ruby asked as his gaze slowly listed to the charred bat, and her gaze followed his. "EEEEK!" Opal shrieked and she booted the burnt bat away. "…Topaz was saying that this is REALLY important, come on." Opal walked out of the training cave with Ruby following her. As they reached the study dorm, Topaz was walking around ordering the rest of the three. Jade was on the floor, with a large book in his hands. Ruby had wondered just how he was capable of holding that. Across from Jade, Ruby found Hematite sitting against the wall with his arms crossed. Just the thought of their eyes locking sent a chill down Ruby's spine. He had no idea how old he even was, Ruby often took guesses but never had gotten any acknowledgment. He was a little strange looking, okay; maybe that was an understatement. Hematite was _completely_ weird. Normal Charmeleon aren't that kind of dark gray with a weird sky-blue, even the flame on his tail was always blue. If Ruby remembered anything from biology... it's that _that_ wasn't normal. Their minders would constantly point that out at Hematite, but he didn't seem to mind being called a "mistake". Come to think of it… Hematite never really told anyone hoe he felt. Ruby couldn't remember much else about Topaz. Except that she did _not_ like to be touched. (From what he remembered last time he tried, she tensed and growled "Get your arm off of me before I bite you!") Topaz and Lapis were pretty similar as far as Ruby knew. But he wouldn't mention that around her. Jade, he's really smart, but Ruby thought he was way too serious… but without his smarts who knows what might happen to them. Hematite was just…well…quiet. There wasn't anything wrong with Opal, she was the sweetest and most innocent person who ever lived! It doesn't matter whether they were called " _weak_ " or anything else like that. An Axew, a Snivy, and a Squirtle, along with a Charmander and it's evolution. These were the people that Ruby felt closest to, just like a big, unique family. Ruby felt somebody pull him aside abruptly.


	4. Chapter 3

**(It had taken me longer than anticipated to take back everything I lost for yet another unexplained reason. My computer hates me, such a shame it took so long to notice...)**

Chapter 3

Ruby's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to scream. "Stop struggling Ruby! I just need to talk to you… in private." He heard and was brought into a shaded spot, not lit by any of the scattered torches. In front of him stood the same blue Squirtle he talked with earlier. "Weren't you just-?" Ruby started, he thought he saw him and Topaz arguing before. "Look Ruby... I can't stand this place! They told us in another two years and we'll finally be able to leave... Two more years and I'd probably off myself before then." Lapis said to Ruby through a whisper. "But why? We've already gone through-" "Stop right there and let me... ELEVEN YEARS RUBY! That's pretty much childhood!" Lapis interrupted him "We've been trapped here for too long and I can't survive another two years!" Ruby agreed… somewhat, it was hard. Years' worth of scars, burns, berating comments, and boring history lessons. "I don't know, maybe it'll go by faster this time?" Ruby tried. "Aren't you at least the slightest bit curious on the outside?" Lapis asked him. Ruby couldn't quite answer that question, he'd always wanted to venture out and smell the fresh grass. However, none of them would be able to get past their minders. (Although not to say they hadn't attempted...) But maybe Lapis was right, Ruby doubted that he could take another year of Jade explaining why Water Pokémon can breathe underwater. The two stepped away and back into the light of the dorm room. Now it seemed Topaz was at verbal war with Jade, the former's tail flame nearly blazing and the latter calmly flipping through pages, not even looking up. "The Veins think they're in charge of us, but _we_ still have to make the choice who to fight alongside with." Topaz bristled, "They still know what's best for us, and the Nowhere Islands. So we could still listen to a suggestion." Jade told her, causing Topaz to groan. He was _very_ close to getting his tail set on fire.

The sound of heavy footsteps had caused all of them to quiet down and turn around towards the entrance of the room. Ruby wasn't very surprised finding Terra's cold, angry stare directed at the six children. "Why can't you ever do anything quietly?!" He asked, still annoyed from earlier Ruby assumed. "Because if it's quiet, it's boring." Topaz answered rolling bher eyes. "Not n-necessarily, since it's a little more immer-" Jade added, but Terra gave him a glare so sharp it could cut through a whole mountain, the former immediately stopped talking."I'd better not hear a _peep_ out of any of you for the next hour, understand? Especially you." Terra pointed at Topaz and stomped away. The latter stuck her tongue out at her minder's back. A minute had passed before the children heard the sound of a boulder rolling back into place. "Say, isn't now usually the time when they have their meeting?" Jade wondered, a grin began to form on Lapis' face. "Well, aren't you guys gonna come?" He asked, quietly slipping out of the dorm. Topaz followed him and Ruby's curiosity took over. Jade shook his head and moved behind Ruby, together the four moved silently throughout the caverns. Jade and Topaz stopped and moved towards one of the walls. They couldn't get too close with Topaz' tail flame, Ruby's fur color allowed him to slip in further. Lapis leaped into the small river without a sound and dove under the surface. Gerard never bothered to check that, so it was a favorite spot for Lapis. He even had a way to surface into the room their minders closed off.

"He's coming tomorrow!?" Shouted Terra's voice. "He gave us the Dragon egg and left, 10 years later and suddenly he wants to come back!?" "It's all that I heard, I didn't know of it!" Ruby heard Gerard and wondered just who they were talking about. 'Dragon egg? So that was Opal?' Ruby asked himself. "Perfect, just perfect, so now we're going to find out just how spectacularly we failed to do our job." "These kids? Then he'll be quite disappointed with the results." sighed Drake's voice. Ruby could hear the sound of his cane tapping against the wall. (Ruby did always think it was a little ironic, a Blaziken that couldn't kick.) Drake lost everything below his left knee so he needed a cane to walk around with stability. If a few lasting scars and a missing lower shin hadn't been any more obvious, Ruby figured he must have been through some fighting or maybe even a war. Ruby snapped to attention and leaned closer to the voices, finally catching Gerard ask "What will he do about..." "It'll be taken care of, we'll have a _proper_ six. You'd better not blab about it to them." Terra instantly cut Gerard off. "...My lips are sealed, that is all." The latter replied as their meeting concluded. Ruby shivered and some flames broke out of his back. When Lapis came back and resurfaced, he had the same look on his face. The two quietly made it back to their room followed by Jade and Topaz. Opal had neatly sorted the pile of books Jade left by him and gave the other four a look of curiosity while Hematite hadn't even moved. Lapis had taken a deep breath to speak, by they were cut off by Terra yelling "LIGHTS OUT! I"D BETTER NOT SEE ANY OF YOU OUT AT THIS TIME!" from halfway across the caverns. The torches lighting the room had stopped burning. The only sources of light were a bright orange and blue flame burning from Topaz and Hematite respectively. Nobody had wasted a single moment, they quietly stumbled to crude cuttings of flat stone jutting out of the wall. Hematite at the top, then Jade, Lapis, Topaz and Opal. Ruby jumped up onto the bottom and faced the wall. The words he'd heard in the meeting circled around him '...Proper six ...taken care of, tomorrow.' Maybe Ruby could give Lapis' words a thought.


	5. Chapter 4

**(Issues with a crapshoot internet prevented me from editing and posting. To make up for this, Chapters 5 and 6 will come by shortly after this.**

 **From here on out I'm giving all characters speaking or thinking their own space so the text doesn't appear as... 'bricky'... brick-like?)**

 **Chapter 4**

Ruby had never really believed the rumors of Dragons. Tough Pokemon that resist pretty much everything but two Types? Who separated themselves and live on an island who knows how far away from here? A ruler no one has ever seen and to top it all off, everybody in all of the Nowhere Islands was afraid of them. It all sounded like something that wasn't real, like some tale a drunkard who was in over his head at the tavern spat out. Besides, Opal was a Dragon. She wasn't in any way like that, no one was afraid of her, not even Jade, and he could startle easily. But next afternoon, when a Druddigon as big as Terra came by Ruby felt everything from those rumors crash into his head like Rock Slide. Ruby stood in a line with everyone else as he was examined from top to bottom. He was glad his eyes were normally shut, because if they weren't Ruby feared they'd be as wide as he was tall. Raze stomped over to Topaz and gave her another look, he seemed disgusted with the candidates of the Chosen Six.

'Really? Wasn't what I thought what would happen so quickly. Are we disappointments already?' Ruby wondered.

Raze's eyes suddenly went over to Ruby. He stopped and stared forward, he could feel Opal to his left trembling with fear. To his right, Ruby noticed Jade was as still as he'd ever been. It was sort of like his defense to danger. Jade would freeze up instantly and hope whatever threatening him would simply see nothing and walk away. Ruby could understand it, feeling utterly petrified at the sight of piercing colorless eyes scanning him, reading him like an open book and critiquing every single flaw and failure.

'Just think about the beef you burned last night and how terrible it tasted... Just think about the bat you charred by the river, think about food and nothing but food. Food and nothing BUT food!' Ruby kept repeating hoping that no one else picked up on his nervousness. Thankfully Raze shifted his gaze towards the far right where Hematite stood. He didn't look interested, even with the eyes of their minders on him. The Charmeleon even had his arms crossed as he yawned.

'He makes it look so easy...' Ruby thought 'Like there isn't some huge Dragon staring at us, who looks like he could rip our heads off if he wanted to! Oop! THINK ABOUT FOOD AND NOTHING BUT FOOD! THINK ABOUT FOOD AND NOTHING BUT FOOD!' He suddenly interrupted himself. Raze spent an eternity simply glaring at Hematite, it seemed like hours before he finally opened his mouth.

"What... is... THAT." He asked with so much venom that Ruby felt nauseous. Raze pointed a claw at Hematite and everybody's gaze shifted towards him. "What is that THING doing here?"

"The frog over here would be more than happy to answer that question." Terra rolled his eyes and Gerard began to tremble beside him.

"Ouch, Terra threw him right under the bus..." Ruby whispered to Opal.

Gerard's tongue began twitching as he tried to compose himself. "There was a bit of an... er, accident."

"And this is what you replace a child of destiny with?" Raze asked immediately, his voice sounded like a mixture of Toxic and Venoshock stacked upon each other.

"Look at the bigger picture, we needed six, we've lost two by the time of the deadline and I had to do what was necessary."

"... Something is very wrong here." Raze growled, not taking his eyes off of Hematite.

"Yes, there is! It's right here! It's what we've been through our whole lives! We're the Chosen Six, the people responsible for world peace and stopping the fighting, but here we're treated like broken eggs nobody even bothers with!" Lapis shouted "Please just take us with you, anyplace would be better than here!"

"You ungrateful turtle!" Terra raised his voice. "Lapis, hold your tongue this instant!" Drake added in the usual 'no-nonsense' way.

"I will not! You can't just leave us here with them, none of us would survive long enough!" Lapis pleaded, Ruby wondered if he would take this as far as dropping to his knees. Nobody seemed to join in with him. Raze suddenly swiped at Lapis, it caught everyone off guard yet the latter still managed to jump out of reach. Lapis retaliated with two sprays of water aimed at his opponent's face. Ruby couldn't grasp what was going on but found his body instinctively leaping towards the huge Druddigon. Ruby managed to grab hold of a wing and suddenly turned around in attempt to burn him with the flames on his back. Raze shook the Cyndaquil off and spun around to strike him with his tail. Ruby flew into the wall and crashed into it harder than his usual training with Terra. (And that was saying something!) He nearly fell unconscious simply from the force of the hit. In his sight, Ruby could see Lapis struggling to avoid a barrage of swipes, stomps, and bites. Not one of the three adults budged as Raze and Lapis went at it. A particularly nasty bout of exploding bubbles hit Raze in the stomach and he backed away. Ruby could see a ghost of a grin appear on his face as he turned around.

"... I like that one, keep him." Raze told the Six's minders. "And him, he can stay." He pointed at Ruby.

'Me? He... approved of _me_?' Ruby had never been so confused before. He accomplished nothing compared to Lapis, yet he was seen as capable? Ruby stood up shakily 'Looks like I managed to prove someone wrong.' He thought for a happy moment. This didn't last as the pain shot back up into Ruby's brain as the top priority.

"As for the rest of you. I'm less than impressed, but perhaps I can afford to overlook some... failures." Raze trailed off into a low growl. "You, Axew, come." He gestured and walked into one of the empty rooms of the caverns. Opal hesitantly followed behind him.

Lapis turned to Hematite and pounded at the floor. "You didn't fight?! WHY DIDN'T YOU JOIN IN!? YOU COULD HAVE PROVEN IT TO HIS SMUG FACE YOU'RE NOT-!"

"Stop, it wouldn't matter in the slightest. You'd seen everything I'd seen. That look he gave me and the growl in his voice. It was obviously a test, and I'd failed." Hematite cut him off and turned his back to the other children.

"But that's not true. You couldn't 'fail', he just didn't see how you are when it comes to fighting, or studies." Ruby tried "I-I'll see if I can get Opal to convince him."

"That's sweet, but why bother? The odds of Opal changing that guy's mind are second to none. Hell, for her to change anyone's mind I'd put out my flame... I'm tired, go wake me if something interesting happens." Hematite told him, he stepped away and in the direction of the dorm room. Lapis could barely hold himself, he dashed over to the river and sank into a stream of rapid, furious bubbles.

In the corner of his eye, Ruby could see Jade quietly slipping away to where Opal followed Raze. Topaz shrugged and left, leaving Ruby, Lapis and their minders in the same room. The adults followed Gerard out and back to their usual discussion room.

'Failures... That's how he sees us, but I don't get it, why?' Ruby wondered which word stung the most. He didn't understand any of it. His friends were each great in their own way, and they always stayed together. Had they not, things'd have been far worse than now. Jade came back from listening in with a slightly pale face. He started looking around one of the bookshelves for something.

"Uh hey, it's right here." Ruby said, he pointed to a cluttered pile of books and loose papers. Underneath all of them was an odd silvery tome with illuminated lettering on the front. "Biology and Physiology of the 17 Types", kind of a clunky title. Ruby thought it was too long for anyone to breeze through, yet every time Jade proved Ruby wrong. Jade would always read this whenever he heard something particularly unsettling. Such as when their minders told them of any casualties outside of the mountain.

"How bad was it? What did you hear?" Ruby prodded.

"... I'd rather not mention, frankly, I'd wished that I'd never heard it." Jade mumbled, focusing back on the words of the book. He turned a few pages before stopping suddenly.

"Ruby... I really don't want to talk about it. Please, for the love of Arceus, just leave me alone." Jade said, he inhaled sharply through his teeth and Ruby heard a tear in the book. Jade would never damage a book or even his old test papers intentionally. He'd never given such a reaction, Ruby didn't want to know... but a part of him did want to. If even Jade was keeping quiet, something must be very wrong.

"I have to know. There's a lot of things going through my head, but I don't know just what. Jade please, I need to know what Opal was listening to." Ruby pushed, Jade waited for almost an eternity before finally opening his mouth.

"It sounded like a lecture, you would know. Stuff about how we're the key to world peace and that very soon we'll be allowed to leave." Jade began.

"Let me guess, he told Opal how she's supposed to be proud and all 'cause she's a Dragon?" Ruby asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah, those words exactly. But... there was something that kind of unnerved me. He said 'Don't worry about the gray one. I'll handle it'..."

"'Handle', w-what did that mean?" Ruby asked, visibly shaking.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out... maybe it could mean Hematite will get to go home. He seems pretty lucky." Jade sighed, focusing back on the book. Ruby walked away, that look he'd seen didn't exactly say 'You're free to go.' He heard Opal's light steps coming closer followed by Raze's heavier stomps. Followed by the three adults emerging from the room across. Two of them headed towards the dorm with Drake staying behind. Less than a second later, sounds of a scuffle could be heard and Ruby could already piece together what was happening. He nearly broke into a run, but skidded to a stop just before the dorm. Gerard emerged first, followed by Terra dusting off his hands. Ruby moved to the side and hurried in while the minders went elsewhere. He nearly screamed, in the center of the room and bound to a rock pillar was Hematite...


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Why would they do this? To Hematite of all people? What did he do? What's going to happen to him?! Questions rapidly built up and orbited around Ruby's brain. Fear and uneasiness mingled with the sight in front of him. Ruby's voice appeared to have drawn the rest to him. Jade and Lapis entered with positively mortified looks on their faces, they even attempted to shield Opal's eyes. She let out a short scream and rushed over to the center.

"Hematite! Are you okay?!" The little Axew rubbed Hematite's shoulder trying to get his attention, he didn't open his eyes.  
"... They'll do anything if they hear it's for this legend." Hematite growled. He sounded relatively calm, but his tail was lashing with a near inferno of blue flames to the right. Jade inched over and glanced at the pillar, crude stone in the form of rings bound Hematite to it. One around his neck, the other wrapped around his wrist and kept his right arm to the floor.

"This was definitely Terra." Jade said, prodding the stone around Hematite's wrist. "There's nothing we can do, only he could break these."

"So in short, it's hopeless." Hematite muttered. He glanced at an orange shape face-down on the floor. Ruby figured Topaz tried to do something when she noticed them in the room, but she didn't seem to change anything.

"Topaz... What happened?" Ruby asked, Topaz slowly stood up and brushed some pebbles off of her back.

"Oh, you know... just tried to delay the inevitable... and failed. I swear one day I'll chip a neck spike off that dinosaur!" Topaz snarled with her hands clenched in fists. Jade continued to examine the stone bindings and racked his brain for a solution. Ruby attempted to wrap his head around the situation. He heard Lapis calling his name and turned around.

"I think you know what we have to do..." Lapis told him. "... Guys, we need to take action." He said to the rest, all save for Opal nodded in agreement. Jade dropped the tome he held and opened to a certain page, he unfolded a neat paper free of wrinkles. Drawn onto it was a surprisingly accurate layout of the caverns. Written on the very edge of the paper were minor notes. Dozens of eraser markings were still left on the paper, suggesting it was revised numerous times.

"You told everyone about this?" Ruby finally asked. Everyone looked at him and he didn't need an answer to figure that out. Jade slid the map over so the rest could see it.

"So, any other way out besides swimming?" Topaz asked, Jade shook his head.

"If there is a different way out, I haven't find it. I've tried every small space I could fit through." Jade sighed. "I could look again and give this place another run through." He suggested.

"We don't have time for that, in case you didn't notice, someone here is chained up waiting to get his neck wrung." Lapis wiped his head and sat down. "We have to do something, and fast. There's only one way out." "Ruby, you're gonna have to be the one to do it... Hope you're ready to get wet." Ruby didn't like where this was going.

"No, no no no no no. Not me, I can't breathe underwater. I wouldn't know where I'd be going. It can't be me! You should, you could at least handle it." Ruby protested.

"I wish I could, buy they have their eyes on me, even Drake would know I'm gone. If I tried, they'd know right away and you'd all suffer for it. We have to send the one they notice the very least, and that falls on you. Ruby, I... no, WE need you to do this." Lapis said, Ruby knew he was dead serious. Behind him, Opal gasped.

"Y-your going to run a-" Topaz practically leaped over to cover Opal's mouth with her hand.

"You'd better not say a _word_ , you're not ruining this for us!" Topaz said through gritted teeth. Opal moved away and gave everyone a look that said "Y-you're serious? H...how come you didn't tell me?"

"As rude as Topaz put it, she has a point." Jade told her "Remember the tower?" Ruby definitely remembered that. A few years ago, they all planned to hoard as many books as possible and build a tower that reached up to a hole in the ceiling. Then one day, Opal couldn't hold it in and she accidentally told Drake where the books were hidden. That was the last time the six were allowed access to the bookshelves and the last time Opal knew about their plans. (Ruby could also remember the look of despair on Jade's face when all of his favorite books were taken.)

"W-w-when am I supposed to, y-y'know?" Ruby asked, he began to shiver a bit and it ruffled his fur."

"Ruby, don't do this." Hematite sighed "I think it's great you'd want to do whatever you can for me... but not if it 's going to get you killed. I don't want anyone to die in my place." He opened his eyes and looked right at Ruby.

"What!? When did this sudden concern come up!? Quit acting like a martyr!" Lapis shouted.

"I'm not acting like a martyr, I don't want someone who _has_ a place to die instead of someone who doesn't belong here." Hematite stood up as much as he could and bared his teeth.

"I swear I'm going to kill you myself if they don't!" Lapis raised his voice again and rose up. Jade waved his arms signalling to quiet down before their voices drew any more attention. Ruby agreed Hematite and Lapis looked like there were about to fight more than just verbally.

"SShhh! Do you know what would happen if they walked in right now?!" Ruby stood in between the two. "You look like little Terras, just stop it."

Lapis backed off and Hematite sat back down, they gave each other a nasty glare. Ruby wiped a bit of sweat off, that could have escalated into something awful. But he couldn't rest just yet, there was something he needed to do. In his heart, Ruby knew there was only one solution.

The Chosen Six were coming...


	7. Chapter 6

**(...)**

 **Chapter 6**

Ruby always seemed to know in his heart what the right thing was to do, even if it seemed crazy. He knew it, _this_ was crazy! Go down into the deep dark with no way of knowing what's ahead? If he fails not only would he get lost or _worse_ , but that would mean all of this would be for naught. It was too much stress to carry with everything else going on at the moment. Ruby didn't want for this to happen, he just wanted things to go back to the way they were.

The sound of a rolling boulder alerted them everyone that someone was leaving. It's how the adults got in and out while leaving the Six trapped. There was no way of opening it from the side they were facing, so getting out there wasn't happening. But if they could somehow get in, then there had to be some way of moving of that boulder. Ruby looked up to a hole in the ceiling In the far left of the dorm room ceiling was a little hole. It seemed to only really be there to give the Six a glimpse of the sky or the stars. Ruby spent at least an hour each night gazing at the seemingly endless sky. It would make him wonder about how big the world outside must be. He watched the sky mellow out; and the sun slowly began to disappear. In its place the moon rose, giving off a massive white glow. Ruby heard a deep, angry growl echo from his stomach. It's been a while since his last meal, but now didn't seem like the time to stay full. The only thing that could be done was pass the time, the very second the moon rose they all agreed things would start going into motion. An hour passed after what felt like an eternity. Opal approached Ruby on the flat stone he fell asleep on each night. She hopped up and sat across from Ruby.

"Hey..." Ruby said to her, he shivered a little and some of the fur on him stood out.

"That escalated quickly, really quickly. I wish I knew about all of this 'we're escaping' stuff earlier." Opal whispered. "...I don't spoil everything, right?"

"It's nothing against you, but I'm pretty sure we can't let this one to slip out. I mean, it's a lot more serious than the tower... If things weren't like this I would have told you privately."

"We can't wait to get out here, not if we want to keep everyone..." Ruby knew how Opal was feeling, this all spun out of control so fast. Just a second to wrap his head around this whole thing would have been greatly appreciated. While holding back a yawn Ruby's mind changed subject. Every night about about dusk that boulder would sound. Who kept leaving, and why haven't they come back yet? Ruby decided the best person to ask about this is Jade. Before sliding off Ruby noticed Jade's map was on the floor in front of him, he shook his head as if arguing with himself. When Ruby approached him, Jade seemed so deep in thought he leaped backwards in surprise.

"Eep! O-oh. You scared me for a moment Ruby... What's wrong?" Jade asked, He pushed aside some of his hair. Ruby thought that was strange, no one he ever met seemed to have hair growing out of their head... He tried asking why, Jade didn't seem to mind the question.

'Well, a common theory still discussed today is that we, as a species may have evolved from the ones that used to live on the Islands. A long process that gave us features and abilities like those we have today.' Ruby remembered word-for-word, and he'd always respond with a simple: 'Still doesn't really explain why you have that yellow mop on your head.'

'"Mop"... humorous. I assume it's an Evolutionary leftover that just stuck with me.' Jade would say and the conversation wouldn't go any further than that.

"Um, someone always leaves just after the moon comes up. Did you ever wonder who, and why they take so long?" Ruby couldn't help but ask, now that he had a moment it seemed worthwhile to know of.

"I was thinking about that, and narrowed it down. Gerard appears to have some anxiety about late night patrols and refrains from going out. Drake can't exactly go anywhere considering he doesn't have as much mobility. And Raze left hours ago, I guess he was only here to examine us. That leaves only one other left, Terra. But for what he might be doing at this hour, your guess is as good as mine..." Jade took one more look at the map, Ruby followed his gaze. Everything about the place was drawn and marked. But the drawings of the river cut off prematurely.

"Hey, did you ever try to slip out?" Ruby asked.

"Once, but I could barely fit my head through. Never mind the effort it took to get up there." Jade shook his head.

"So did I." Topaz chimed in.

"Ditto." Lapis added.

Hematite didn't say anything, but even _he_ would have tried something by now. Opal... of all people, raised her hand sheepishly. Ruby felt slow, everyone's tried to get out at some point. He seemed to be the only one who hadn't even thought about getting out.

"How am I going to know where you are if I get out?" 'Key word being "if"...' Ruby asked. That was actually a good question. If Jade was right about where they may be on the map, there are dozens of mountains crowding the same area. Ruby, or more generally, none of the Chosen Six knew what the outside of their home even looked like. All around him Ruby could see that the others were wondering about the same thing. If only there was a sort of signal that could give Ruby an idea of where to go.

"Wait... Oh! A fire!" Ruby shouted, finally managing to nab an idea of his own. "You guys could start a fire in here, and the smoke could float up through the hole. Then I could see where you guys are and come open the entrance!"

"Hmmm, what could we burn in here...? I think I have _few_ ideas." Topaz looked up, like Jade might whenever he'd explain something. Her face slowly began to change into a smirk, and her eyes drifted to Jade's favorite silvery tome. Ruby could see the latter's eyes practically widen in horror at the suggestion. Almost defensively, Jade slid the tome back behind him.

"I-if you really have to... Go ahead. Just p-please run it through me first. Some of these really are my personal favorites..." Jade stuttered.

"That settles it, grab some books and pile it up right beneath the sky hole." Lapis said as he scoured the dorm room for any loose works. Everyone separated to pick up whatever flammable thing they could find. With everything else falling into place, Ruby turned around to ready himself. Today was the last day the Chosen Six remained trapped.

"Oh, do me favor in advance. Toss 'History of he Nowhere Islands for Dummies' in there and let me know how it burns."

A few minutes later, Ruby stood on a shallow ledge in the river. The water was absolutely freezing, even for him. He was shivering, Jade and Lapis could see it.

"Remember, just go with the flow. It should take you out of here and eventually you should reach a waterfall. The second you do that, get up as high as possible and look for smoke. We'll fan the flames so it doesn't die out. Good luck Rube." Lapis said.

"One more thing, don't push yourself. If you find the place sloping up, go and rest for as long as you need to, take deep breaths. Whatever you do, don't panic... you'll only run out of air faster if you freak out. Just stay calm and focus on following the currents, they're your best friends." Jade added. That didn't sit particularly well with Ruby. 'If you find a slope going up.' Ruby took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. He lowered himself into the river and held onto the ledge.

"I'll come back for you guys, I promise." He took one last deep breath, hoping it wan't his last; and felt the water close above his head in an eerie, concluding way. Ruby disregarded that and pushed off, lightly running his hand along the wall. It felt quiet, there was nothing but an occasional _bloop_ of a bubble popping. Ruby could hear his own heart beating in rhythm.

 _lub lub, lub lub, lub lub_

Ruby opened his eyes, he could see a faint outline of his surroundings. He was approaching some rocks that looked weirdly like jagged teeth. He held two of them and slowly fit his head through. Ruby's arms and shoulders followed, but suddenly he stopped moving. Ruby's waist and legs were stuck! He frantically tried to pull himself forward. This can't be it!

Would Ruby's insatiable appetite really be his own undoing?

 **Would the Islands never be saved now because of a few extra berries!?**

Ruby popped loose like a cork off of a bottle. He tumbled around in the pitch blackness, flailing his arms and legs for balance. Ruby wanted to scream so badly, but he remembered Jade's voice in his head: _"Don't panic...' 'Stay calm and focus on following the currents."_ It took a moment before Ruby finally regained his balance, he let the river drag him along like a leaf. A moment later, Ruby felt pain in his chest. His mind began to bounce to different thoughts rapidly. He's been under for so long, and not a single deviation from the path. Ruby pushed himself upward and banged his head on rough stone. 'Agh! You're kidding me!' he thought, Ruby could feel his heart beating faster and faster. Like Agility done again and again ad infinitum. He instinctively rose up again, praying to the divine Arceus he'd find an air pocket... It seemed his prayer was answered, the walls around him pulled away and sloped upward. Ruby turned and pushed, the area around him lightened up too! It looked like there were stars above Ruby. He almost swallowed a mouthful of water in excitement, had he really made it outside?! Ruby emerged from the water, finally inhaling a triathlete's amount of oxygen. Sweet, sweet oxygen! Ruby never felt so grateful to have fresh air in his lungs. He'd never take it for-granted ever again. Ruby laughed, now all he had to do was climb a-...

'Wait, I'm still in a cave... but then what wa-' Ruby looked up at the glow, now that he could see clearly; the supposed 'sky' was glowing in a light green hue.

 _'Worms?'_ Ruby wondered, he remembered Jade talking about weird little things called 'glowworms' in caves like this. _'So is that what I'm seeing?'_ Ruby climbed atop a nearby rock, he was soaking. All of his fur weighed down heavily, loosening his grip on the rock. Ruby shook himself for a moment. He scattered water droplets everywhere until he didn't feel as heavy.

"Much better..." He said, taking a look around. Even with the glowworms, he couldn't see that far ahead. Ruby strained himself, hoping he'd ignite the flames along his back. They sputtered pathetically before he gave up. Ruby couldn't do anything, he needed to be warm enough to burn. _'No fire then, huh? Great...'_ Ruby sighed, groping blindly into the faint light. He felt something gooey touch his hand, Ruby instinctively pulled it back. It smelled like a mixture of a rotting corpse and bad eggs. Suddenly he felt singing pain swipe at his hands like a ferocious beast. Ruby clenched his jaw, the pain was just too strong to tough out. It was like an unstoppable spear that pierced everything in its path. Ruby shook his hand violently and lost his grip on the rock. Ruby fell into what seemed like a pit, and he felt the gooey sensation all over his back! The pain worsened, it clawed its very way deep into Ruby's body! He screamed and panicked, Ruby jumped out and fell back into the water. He collided with a stone, and felt dizzy. The light around Ruby began to fade, and it became dark.

 _'It's over... I couldn't do it. I'm sorry I let you guys down...'_ Ruby thought at last.

The sound of the rushing water around him became quieter, and quieter.

And quieter...


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

' _I had two things to do... escape, and free the others. I couldn't even do that. Coward? Isn't the better term 'failure'?_ ' Ruby couldn't see anything, he wasn't even sure there was a solid floor beneath him. Is this what it felt like to die? Having been cold-cocked and swept off by the waters, it's pretty much a guarantee Ruby kicked the bucket.

Ruby felt a violent surge, then twice. He began to notice a pattern; down... up, down... up. On the next 'down' Ruby felt the sharpest chill. Someone was holding him; shoving him down into the water. If he wasn't dead, these hands were likely here to finish the job! But how could Gerard manage to get through such a tight fit if Ruby himself could barely squeeze by? And it didn't look like there was any land route the other two could have taken. Finally able to move, he squirmed on the next 'up'. Maybe he did have a second chance by dumb luck, but he certainly wasn't about to squander it. Ruby shifted his weight and managed to jar his assailant's grip.

"Hey!! Quit squirming! Do you really want me to _not_ save your hide?" Ruby eyes shot open, his vision milky from the water. "Huh!? La-! H-how? When!?" Ruby shouted, he could hear his own voice bound across the cavern. He must have disturbed a few bats, as there were a few squeaks of protest somewhere up above. He was shoved down again, but it felt more like a figurative dope slap.

"I trailed you the very second you disappeared beneath the water. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad might happen along the way." Lapis told him. "Now don't move, I've no idea what on Nowhere this gooey stuff is. It smells like a carcass and stings like hell once you've got it on you. It looks the water here cleans some of it off."

Ruby agreed and let himself be pushed under one last time. He was then dragged back onto a flat, dry rock. He could feel everything again, right down the edge of each individual hair on his body. Ruby had almost forgotten everything and hugged his savior.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! I'm so lucky that you're here!" Ruby said, he felt Lapis inch backward vainly.

"Uuuuuugh, at least dry yourself off before you do that..." The latter protested. Ruby released Lapis and walked to the edge of the rock. He shook himself dry, scattering drops of water everywhere once again.

"Um, anyway... things were going great. I was just about to find a way out." Ruby said.

"Mmn... Kinda, you did do great for a guy weak to water. Just tell me when you plan to do any more swimming."

'Do any swimming', different fragments of Ruby's brain were laughing en masse.

"Did you get a good look of the place before your nap?"

Ruby shook his head, he obviously didn't get to see much other than his own eyelids. It was calming, not what Ruby was used to. Infinitely better than the sounds his ears have grown accompanied to. Together they observed everything they could see, the dim glow given off by the worms added well to the ambiance. Ruby was itching to feel the warm sun. He longed to touch fresh grass, perhaps even roll around in some mud. He wanted to see all of Nowhere and experience what made his home, well... home. Every minute spent here only fed the desire.

"Where do we go from here?"

"Same way as that waterfall." Lapis pointed over Ruby's shoulder. "All of this has to go somewhere, right? Come on." Lapis slid down the rock and into the water. He gestured for Ruby to follow, the latter uneasily slid and wrapped his arms around Lapis' neck. It was a tad awkward having to lie on someone else's back. Lapis pushed away and swam with the current. He moved far slower that what Ruby had to suffer through, which he appreciated. With every passing minute the roaring of the waterfall became louder, Ruby had to shout to be heard.

"Are you sure about this!?"

"'Course I am!" Lapis shouted back. "W-wait! I can see a light up ahead!"

He was right, Ruby had to squint but he could see a slit of white light. He felt Lapis pick up pace. The slit grew larger and larger until everything around was white. Ruby wasn't sure if he was holding onto anything anymore, and opened his mouth to scream. His eyes began adjusting, and before him the most spectacular sight to behold.

The sun was even more impressive than Ruby had thought. It was like a massive white ball just, sitting up in the sky. Lighting up the world, sending detail into every nook and cranny. Below the orb wasn't dull, harsh crags and pointed stones he was expecting, but trees. Actual, real trees!! All of them painted with a green nowhere near like the drab sepia-toned images in history books. Little droplets of water he could see reflected his own face. The sound of the waterfall dimmed as wind whistled in Ruby's ears.

He was falling.

All of the beauty disappeared, only fear and panic filled the gap. Ruby was falling down into who knows what. Nasty gravity, pulling him down like a lead weight. Ruby flailed his arms, his head whipping side to side. Where did Lapis go?! Ruby scanned the area and in the corner of his eye, he spotted a brown shape, then called his name.

"L-LAPIS!!"

Ruby screamed at the top of his lungs. He had to think of something, fast! Ruby procured an idea, his focus shifted behind as he prayed his flames would light. They burst in an instant, Ruby opened his mouth and let out a large blast of fire. It slowly edged him backwards. Nearing his friend Ruby then faced the other way and launched more fire to stop himself.

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!"

"U-UH…… WAIT!! JUST HOLD ON TO ME AND DON'T LET GO!" Lapis shouted. Ruby nodded and wrapped his arms around Lapis' neck as tight as they would allow. An orb of dark water enveloped the two children, and they shot forward. They were still falling, but Ruby noticed it wasn't as fast.

'Is this what it's like to fly?' Ruby pondered, it certainly felt like it. Well, not that he'd really know the answer anyhow; unless he would be breaking the laws of biology anytime soon. Approaching greenery dragged him back reality. The trees were getting closer, growing by the second. Lapis turned to the side and pulled his head in, Ruby shut his eyes and braced himself. Now would be a good time to offer up a prayer to Arceus.

 _ **(Just a very minor note: As much as it hurts to continue writing this in its current state, I've decided I won't leave a project unfinished. If any part of this addition appears off [Whether that be missing or cut off words and sentences, typos, or anything else outstanding, then that's likely what happens when uploading chapters via app. I'll give this a run-through in a few days to check for any problems.)**_


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